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Iain Mitchell QC – Kazakhstan to Brussels

Central Asian lawyers learn about Faculty

Iain Mitchell, QC, was last week in Kazakhstan where he gave a talk at a conference on “Improving the Quality of Legal Services” organised by the Collegium of Advocates of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the International Bar Association, the Association of European Lawyers, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe. He spoke, in the context of proposed new regulations on legal training in Kazakhstan, on legal education in the UK, with special emphasis on the Faculty’s CPD and Quality Assurance schemes.

 

The Conference, which was attended by members of the Kazakh Bar, the Kazakh Ministry of Justice and representatives of the bars of Turkmenistan, Kyrzgistan and Uzbekistan, covered all aspects of legal services, and aimed to assist the Bars involved in adopting international best practice in the provision of legal services.

 

Commenting on the conference, Iain Mitchell said: “Although it is now well over 20 years since the fall of communism, many post-soviet countries still lag behind with meeting the challenges of providing modern and truly independent legal services. There is a huge support within the Bars for reform, and a considerable sense of the need for independence, so it was good to be doing something practical to boost the self-confidence of the lawyers in the ex-soviet states. It is in a well-trained, robust and self-confident independent legal profession that lies the best hope for the future of the rule of law in these countries.”

 

Next week, Iain Mitchell will be convening and speaking at a Round Table Meeting in the European Parliament in Brussels organised by the CCBE with speakers from the Parliament and from civil society organisations and the IT industry, including Microsoft and others, to discuss the Proposal of the EU Parliament and the Council on European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters.

 

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Iain Mitchell QC